Out of the shadows

Forward Kevin McLaughlin is fresh and full of running for the final push. He espouses a team ethos in which nobody will throw toys out of the pram

Kevin McLaughlin was injured until New Year but is in contention for the Heineken Cup Final

To say he can play flanker, lock and No 8 doesn’t quite do justice to Kevin
McLaughlin’s claims as an all-rounder. He has been known to sing bass in the
140-strong RTE Philharmonic Choir. He’s studying for a graduate diploma in
financial planning and likes to dabble in various markets. Down the line, he
can see himself as food critic. Seriously. Right now, however, he admits to
having a one-track mind. Will he be starting at the Millennium Stadium next
Saturday? Everything else can wait.

This sort of thing can envelop a rugby player and poison his mind. It would
have been only human for him to wish Shane Jennings, his main rival, a poor
showing against Ulster on Friday evening. But that’s not the way McLaughlin
thinks. It’s not the way anyone in Leinster is thinking.